3D printed steampunk Alien Xenomorph costume

July 17, 2014

3D printing is a natural fit for the cosplay industry and we have seen people who build cosplay benefit from using the new technology. The latest project is the Xenomorph suit created by XRobots' James Bruton. This Steampunk Alien Xenomorph project is all custom designed and 3D printed on a Lulzbot TAZ 3D printer.

The original alien suit in the movie was made from a combination of fiberglass and latex rubber. But 3D printer allows Bruton to design his suit which can be customized and fit specially for himself.

The suit will be 3D printed in a combination of rigid ABS and flexible material NinjaFlex using a Lulzbot TAZ 3 with dual extruders.

Bruton used free software Autodesk123D Design to design all the pieces. Each piece is exported as a separate STL, and then the 'combine multi-material STL' function is used in Slic3r to generate the GCode to drive multiple extruders on the printer.

The Lulzbot TAZ 3 with dual extruders allows him to create parts like joints and connectors by mixing two different materials. For example the compliant joint below is thinner piece of ABS encapsulated with Ninjaflex rubber. "This would have potential used in prosthetic limbs and robotics, and could easily be customised to suit the patient in the case of prosthetics." Bruton explained.

The wearer will wear black gloves with rings attached to each finger, "these will be bonded onto the underside of the Alien fingers so it forms an exoskeleton." Bruton notes. "All the fingers are joined with the Ninjaflex rubber hand back and the rings are attached to the underside using Acetone to make a chemical weld."

The third part is building the arms which couple to the hands. These parts below are going to be a hybrid print - printed in one go in ABS and Ninjaflex.

The red parts in the drawings below represent flexible sections, while the blue parts are rigid. This allows the red bands to bend around the wearers arm and be strapped with the rigid slots at each end. Both will be printed in black Material.

The upper arm and shoulder pieces are multiple prints which are them assembled. Once everything is put together you will see how innovative this creation is.

The project is still under development. The current build is truly impressive and we can't wait to see how the entire suit turns out. You can follow Bruton's progress here on his website. If you want to build your own, you can get all the stl files for 3D printing from his download page.